


Confessions of a Teenage Bisexual

by bisexualtrashmouthtozier



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Monsters, Bisexual Male Character, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Losers Club (IT) Friendship, M/M, Reddie, Romance, Slow Burn, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Teenage Losers Club (IT)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21550465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualtrashmouthtozier/pseuds/bisexualtrashmouthtozier
Summary: It's not easy being Richie Tozier. While most kids at his high school are stressing over college applications and prom nights, he's stressing over the love of his life. Who happens to be another guy. In their small ass town in Maine. In 1992. Richie has been in love with Eddie Kaspbrak since they were kids. Now that they're 16, will he finally be able to confess his feelings?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Reddie - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. October 23, 1992

I took a sip from the red plastic cup in my hand and vodka burned my throat on the way down. I was glancing across the room when I saw him, and then my heart stopped. I don’t blame it. There he was - perfectly laid brown hair, inviting brown eyes filled with innocence, smile lines. I watched him raise his cup to his mouth. There was Pepsi in there for sure. Just Pepsi, nothing else. I was suddenly jealous of that solo cup as it touched his lips. He was interacting with someone. Laughing. I couldn’t begin to tell you who. It wasn’t important. 

Eddie fucking Kaspbrak. Sass master. Hypochondriac. Love of my life for the past 6 years. Here’s the thing, though - nobody has feelings for the same gender in Derry. Except me, of course. 

Fingers snapped in front of my face, forcing me back to reality. “Earth to Richie. What the hell are you staring at?” My best friend, Stan, said, attempting to follow my gaze. 

I felt a blush spread across my cheeks. “Uh, nothing.” I cleared my throat and adjusted my oversized black square glasses. 

“Stop dissociating and get ready. We’re going to Neibolt.” He said, clapping my shoulder. I smiled. I fucking loved going to Neibolt. 

It was a chilly Friday night in October. My 6 best friends and I crashed a party because what else are we supposed to do in our small ass town in Maine. Neibolt is a super abandoned house at the end of Neibolt Street. The whole street is essentially just empty lots with the one creepy, dark house at the end of the cul-de-sac. We thoroughly enjoyed going there to fuck around. 

“Edward, let’s go.” I called to him as the other 5 started to file out of the house. 

“I told you not to call me that, Dickhead,” Eddie mumbled as he passed me. I smiled and followed him outside.

The wind howled as Eddie’s minivan pulled up to Neibolt. Apart from the 7 of us and the crows on the branches of the bare tree that towers over the house, it seemed like there wasn’t a sign of life for miles. I got out of the passenger seat and felt the cold October air hit my cheeks. The fingerless gloves seemed like a poor choice that night. At least I looked cool. I followed the group into the dark, creaky house. 

In the living room, we sat in a circle on the wooden floor. Bev’s face brightened as she flicked her lighter for some candles, barely making a dent in the house’s heavy darkness. I pulled out my stash of hidden Marlboros and put one in my mouth. I leaned in to Bev and she lit it for me before I handed the box to her. She lit one too and inhaled it before passing it to Ben. Eddie watched us in horror. 

“You know you’re literally injecting cancer into your lungs, right?” He said to me. 

“You know you’re literally a walking menace, right?” I replied after taking a long drag. Eddie rolled his eyes and I smirked as my heart skipped a beat. Damn him. 

“Alright, who’s first?” Bill said, clapping his hands. 

“I’ll go,” Mike cleared his throat. “Every 27 years, an evil presence haunts the town of Derry around Halloween. It takes the form of an evil clown and lures teenagers into his eternal grasp. He lurks in the dark and feeds off of fear. Some say they could hear his laugh coming from their shower drains, followed by the screams of teenagers’ souls. After Halloween, he retreats back into the Earth for another 27 years. And tonight, October 23rd of 1992, marks exactly 27 years since the last emergence of It.”

I shivered after Mike finished. “Fuck off, man. You know I hate clowns.” 

“Was that story real?” Bill asked, sounding slightly concerned. 

“Why? You scared?” Stan teased. Bill is the bravest guy I know. You know the vibes are off if he’s freaked out. 

“Hey, do you guys think this place has a basement? We’ve been upstairs but we’ve never looked for a downstairs.” Bev suggested with a devious smile. 

“Uh, I’m kinda tired, babe. You go ahead, I’ll watch our candles.” Ben said, faking a yawn.

“I’ll stay with you!” Eddie added, a little too quickly. “I mean, wouldn’t want you waiting alone.” 

“Come on, Edward. Don’t be a pussy,” After we stood up, I shoved his shoulder just hard enough to make him stumble a bit as I laughed. 

“Okay, I swear to God I will end you.” He said, stepping up to me. It’s too bad the top of his head came up to my nose. 

“Stop flirting and let’s go.” Bev said, herding us towards the kitchen. I’m glad the house was dark, otherwise someone surely would have seen my smile after Bev insinuated that Eddie was flirting with me. She blew out the candles and helped Ben up before followed the rest of us. 

While they checked out the kitchen, I saw a door at the end of a long corridor. I pulled out my flashlight and checked it out. The door creaked and let out an awful fucking smell as I opened it. Shining my flashlight in the doorway, I saw a flight of stairs leading down into more darkness. “Guys, over here!” 

They gathered around me and even all 7 of our flashlights combined couldn’t light up more than 5 stairs down. 

“You guys ready?” Bill took the lead and after a nervous gulp, we followed him single-file down the steps. 

At the bottom, it just looked like a normal basement. Boxes and dust everywhere. I heard Eddie take a hit of his inhaler. 

“Well this is fucking lame,” I said, pushing up my glasses. 

“Uh, guys,” I heard Stan say. We pointed our flashlights in the direction of his voice. “What the fuck is this?” 

“Yo….” Ben breathed as we all got over there. There was a big ass well in the corner of the basement - and when I say big, I mean huge. When we pointed our flashlights inside, it was like a black hole. It didn’t have a bottom, at least not one that we could see. It led somewhere. 

“It looks like Eddie’s mom’s vagina,” I said, staring into the darkness. 

“Fuck off,” He shot back, and everyone else laughed. 

After a couple of seconds of silence, Mike spoke up. His voice shook. “This is it, guys. This is where It lives,” 

“Who?”

“The clown.”

Before any of us could speak, we heard footsteps above us. We all froze. Eddie grabbed my arm for protection. “What the hell was that?” He whispered. His grip on my arm tightened, and my heart raced for more reasons than one. 

More footsteps creaked above us, seemingly sounding closer and closer to the staircase. 

“I’m not drunk enough for this,” I muttered.

Suddenly, the door to the basement slammed shut and we all screamed. 

“It’s the fucking clown!” Bill screamed, and Eddie practically jumped into my arms. 

The basement door opened back up and light from flashlights flooded down the stairs. “Derry police! Who’s down there?” 

We all breathed a sigh of relief and I lightly shoved Eds away. “Get the fuck off me, nerd.”

“Shut it, asshole.” He mumbled as I followed him back up the steps, where three police officers were waiting for us. 

“We were patrolling the area and saw your van out front. What the hell were you kids doing down there? Do you realize how dangerous this structure is?” One of them asked as we filed out of the house. 

“We were just exploring, sir. Promise.” Beverly told them. 

“And do you realize that there’s a ‘No Trespassing’ sign out front? We could arrest all 7 of you right now.”

“Please don’t, my mom would fucking kill me.” Eddie whined. 

“You’re lucky we’re feeling generous tonight. Next time we might not be. So get out of here and don’t come back, alright? You guys could get seriously hurt playing around here.” 

We thanked them and piled into Eddie’s minivan without missing a beat. After popping in Nirvana’s  _ Nevermind  _ cassette, I groaned when I felt my empty jean jacket pocket.

“Damn it, I left my cigarettes back there.” 

“Good.” Eddie replied, not taking his eyes off the road. 

“ _ Good,”  _ I mocked in a high-pitch tone. Fuck, I loved that kid. 


	2. October 30, 1992

A week later, Eddie and I were crashing another party. It was just us two as everyone else had “family obligations” or whatever. Nerds. It was a Halloween party, the night before Halloween. Eddie was wearing a white t-shirt, light-washed jeans, and white high-tops with a fuzzy white halo above his head. I was wearing plastic devil horns, a band t-shirt, a black jean jacket, black jeans, and red high-tops. We planned it. Cute, yeah?

An hour after we got there, I was on my 4th beer and feeling pretty good. I was vibing to music when a girl that I recognized from one of my classes came by and grabbed my wrist. “Come on, Richie. They’re playing Spin the Bottle!” She said, dragging me with her. I’m pretty sure her name was Melanie and she was dressed as a slutty fairy. Her words, not mine. 

Melanie and I found our spots in the circle. I glanced up and saw Eddie sitting across from me and my stomach did a somersault. 

Fuck, you know. I shouldn’t think about kissing him. I shouldn’t think about softly feeling down his body. Or  _ roughly _ feeling down his body with my lips on his neck. I shouldn’t think about waking up with him or cooking breakfast with him. It’s fucking torture. 

A couple of people went and kissed while others laughed. I was too busy being relieved that the bottle never landed on fucking Kaspbrak. Then Melanie leaned in with a smile and spun the Bud Light bottle. When it stopped, it was pointing right at me. 

“Ooo, it’s Tozier!”

“Kiss her, Richie!” I heard people snicker from around the circle. Melanie crawled to the middle of the circle and waited for me with a seductive smile. 

I glanced at Eddie. He looked down quickly after we made eye contact. 

I decided to go for it and met Melanie in the middle of the circle. I placed my lips on hers. They were soft and tasted like peach lip gloss. I felt her hand slide to my face, holding me in place. 

When she opened her mouth slightly to invite in my tongue, I pulled away. I felt my face getting hot as everyone whooped. She looked satisfied (one of us had to) and I tugged at the collar of my t-shirt, trying to get some air flowing as I prepared for Eddie to spin the bottle. I thought about getting up and leaving, but didn’t. 

I watched the bottle spin hypnotically after his hand left it, silently praying it would land on me.

And then it did. 

Everyone was quiet for a second as we all looked at it, pointing directly at me. Eddie and I met eyes again, neither of us knowing what to say or do. 

After what seemed like forever (but was probably only about 2 seconds later), a guy on the side of the circle spoke up, 

“Well? Spin it again, Kaspbrak. The fuck are you doing?” He chuckled, and everyone else followed suit. 

“Unless you wanna kiss him. They don’t call him Bisexual Trashmouth Tozier for nothing.” A girl added, giggling. 

“Who the fuck says that?” I asked. “Spin it again, Eds. I need another beer.” And just like that, I was gone. 

The rest of the night was a blur. The next thing I remember was my arm being draped over Eddie’s shoulder as he assisted me out to his van. 

“You’re heavier than you look, Tozier.” He mumbled as he strapped the seatbelt across my chest. 

“Your mom is heavier than she looks.” I said with a smile, ruffling his hair before he shut my car door. 

The ride back to my house was quiet, allowing me to sober up some. I wanted to say something, but I truly didn’t know what. 

Eddie parked outside my house and we just sat there for a few seconds. 

“Hey, um, Richie?” He said first. I glanced over at him. “Uh...I would’ve kissed you, you know?” 

I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?” 

A blush spread across his cute little cheeks. “Nothing, forget I said anything. Sorry.” He said, stumbling over his words a bit. 

“No no no no no no no,” I said quickly, sitting up and facing him more. “Come on, tell me.”

“Uh, during Spin the Bottle. You know. I, uh, I would’ve kissed you.” He met my eyes, making my heart explode in my chest. That feeling spread throughout my entire body. Was I fucking imagining things?

I swallowed nervously. My pounding heart was the only thing I could hear in the quiet of the car. “Seriously?” I asked. 

He nodded, not breaking eye contact. 

My face was on fire and my voice came out squeaky. “Uh. I would’ve kissed you too, Eddie.” 

Being extremely confused and slightly worried that this was all a joke, I decided to dip before I heard something that I didn’t want to hear. 

“Hey, um, thanks for the ride home. You know I can be a sloppy bitch.” I got out of the car and my knees almost gave out when my high-tops hit the grass. I’m unsure if it was because of the beers or the nerves. 

“Richie, wait!” Eddie yelled out of the passenger window as I made my way to the house. 

I turned around and waved. “See ya tomorrow, Eds.” I yelled back before ducking into my garage. 

That night, I laid in bed, staring at my ceiling, which was littered with plastic glow-in-the-dark stars. Smiling, I imagined how things should have gone tonight. Us meeting in the middle of the Spin the Bottle circle, both of us grinning as our lips got closer. I pause slightly before they can meet, teasing him. He smacks my face softly and we laugh before he grabs my face and kisses me. And we kiss. And we kiss, and everyone else disappears. And we don’t stop. 

My mom knocked on my bedroom door, pulling me out of my fantasy. “Richard, you okay? How was your night?” 

Frustrated, I put my pillow over my face and talked through it. “I’m fine. Don’t wanna talk about it. See you tomorrow.” 

Once she walked away, I screamed into my pillow, angered that my dreams would never become reality.


	3. October 31, 1992

The next night was Halloween. Eddie, Bill, Stan, and I took Bill’s younger brother Trick-or-Treating before gathering in the Denborough’s living room to watch scary movies after Georgie went to bed. Mike had to help out at his parents’ store and Bev and Ben wanted to be alone, if you know what I mean. 

Halfway through  _ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,  _ we gave up on watching and started bullshitting. Bill’s parents ordered us some pizza and Bill stole some of their beer after they went to sleep. 

Eventually, gay rights got brought up. I’m not entirely sure why. 

“I’d sure hate to be gay in Derry,” Stan said, chuckling. 

“Why?” Eddie asked, almost sounding defensive.

“Small town. Rumors spread. Plus you’d probably get your head smashed in by bullies.” He responded. I felt my heart rate increase when I saw Eddie glance at me out of the corner of my eye. But my gaze stayed on my beer bottle. 

I thought of finally being happy with Eddie. My dream come true. We’re holding hands, walking through town and passing a cone of ice cream between us. Vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, because it’s his favorite. I’m a chocolate fan myself, but what can I say? I’d do anything for the kid. I lay a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek and he laughs and pushes me away. Suddenly, one of our class bullies appears and grabs Eddie. He pushes him against the wall of a building, holding his face against the brick. The ice cream cone falls out of Eddie’s hand and smashes into the ground at his feet. I’m screaming, but I can’t do anything. The sky turns gray as I watch Eddie get the shit beaten out of him. And it’s my fault. 

I shook those horrible thoughts away and tuned back into the conversation. 

“Plus, you can’t trust anyone these days. You know, because of AIDS and stuff.” Bill added. 

Bad time to zone back in. All I could think about was Freddie Mercury, and how it had almost been a year since his death. My mom and I cried together as we watched the news. My knees were weak, she had to hold me up. He was too fucking young. I didn’t want that to happen to Eddie. 

“Okay, can we not talk about this? You guys are making me sick.” I said, desperately wanting the conversation to end. Bill and Stan shrugged and started talking about whatever the fuck they were talking about. I finally glanced at Eddie. As soon as we made eye contact, he looked away. Probably for the best. 

I laid there awake for hours that night. It was almost physically painful to lay next to him. Stan was on the couch and I was laying on the floor between Eddie and Bill. Stan was snoring loudly, Eddie softly, facing me with one arm draped across my chest. It’s like he did this shit on purpose. 

“Bill, you awake?” I whispered.

“Yeah. What’s up?” Neither of us turned our heads from looking up at the ceiling. 

“I have to tell you something,” I swallowed. “I think I’m bi.”

“Bi what?” He asked.

I sighed in frustration. “Bisexual, Bill. I, uh, I like guys too.” My voice trembled. That was the first time I had ever said that out loud.

Bill laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Rich, I’ve known you for 10 years. I’ve known  _ this _ about you for about 8.”

I looked over at him. “ _ What?  _ Really?”

He smiled. “It’s really not a big deal, man. I want you to be happy. Plus, I’ve seen the way you look at Mike.”

I choked on my spit. “Mike? Dude, I don’t have a crush on Mike.”

“Uh-huh.” Bill replied, unconvinced. We laughed and I shoved him playfully. 

We laid there in silence for a few minutes. I was still smiling at his response when he spoke up again. 

“Hey, Richie?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, I’m sorry for what we said earlier. About the AIDS and stuff.”

I shook my head. “You guys weren’t wrong. And I needed to hear it. But don’t worry, your dad always wraps it up.” 

We laughed again. “Fuck off, dude.” He said, and then rubbed my shoulder. “Love you, Richie.”

I smiled at him. “I love you too, Bill.” 


	4. November 2, 1992

When I got to school on Monday and opened my locker, a folded up note fell out of it. After looking around and not seeing anyone that looked suspicious, I opened it. 

_ Richie,  _

_ Ask me on a date. 💗 _

_ Love, _

_ Your secret admirer. _

It was complete with a lipstick kiss mark at the top. I squinted at it to make sure I was seeing things correctly, then looked around to try to find a suspect. When I turned around, Melanie jumped out at me with a smile. 

“Boo!” 

I screamed and slammed into the lockers behind me out of fear. 

She giggled as I rubbed my arm in pain. “Oops, sorry. I see you got my note.”

I held it up. “You left this?” 

Melanie smiled and nodded.

“You wanna go on a date?” I asked her. It was more out of confusion than it was me genuinely asking her out. But of course, that’s not how she took it. 

“Yes! I knew we had chemistry when we kissed at the party Friday night. Pick me up at 7 tonight, okay? I’ll drop my address in your locker later. Plan something fun for us!!” She kissed me on my cheek and bounded off to class. I was left standing in the hallway, holding the note with a look of pure confusion on my face. What the hell just happened?

7 pm rolled around and I pulled up to her house in my mom’s station wagon. I walked up to her house and knocked. Melanie answered, and I’ll be the first to admit that she looked fucking hot. She was wearing a jean skirt, black tights, black heels, a white long-sleeved turtleneck tucked into her skirt with a black belt. She was going to hate where we were going.

“So, where are we going?” She asked, getting into the passenger side of the wagon. 

“Arcade,” I responded, driving off. 

“What?! You can’t take a girl to the  _ arcade _ on the first date.” 

“Come on. We’ll have fun.” 

We did not have fun. She wouldn’t play  _ Street Fighter ll: Champion Edition  _ with me like Eddie always did. I kept having flashbacks of all the time we spent together at that arcade. Like that one time a couple of years ago when we were playing  _ Virtua Racing  _ and he got a little too excited when I let him win. He grabbed my face and gave me a kiss on the cheek. To him, he was just joking around and trying to gross me out. But to me, well, to me it was like a jolt of electricity shot through my body. All of my body hair stood up and my heart stopped. It was lightening. My cheek burned where his lips touched. I was starstruck over my best friend. 

‘Come on, Richie. You gotta stop. You’re on a date with a hot girl.’ I thought. 

She wouldn’t even help me cheat at Skee-Ball. One time, Eddie and I stood on either side of it and dropped the balls directly into the hardest hole to get them in. We had a mountain of tickets by the end. Which we used to get a build-your-own science experiment kit. My parents didn’t appreciate the fact that we ended up starting a fire in my kitchen. 

Eventually, she pulled me into the photobooth. It was weird, she wanted the photos to be of us genuinely smiling. I tried to coerce her into taking some stupid ones, but she argued against that. Our pictures turned out to be one of us smiling with my arm around her like boring old folks, and the rest were us facing each other while I tried to convince her to make a funny face. I remember when Eddie and I were last in the photobooth together. In the first picture, I was licking his cheek, the next was him flicking me off, the one after that was me pinching his cheeks as he tried not to smile. And the last one we were both holding our stomachs while we were cracking up.

Melanie and I grabbed some food at the diner next door after I collected enough tickets to win her a teddy bear. She ordered a tiny little side of fries and I ordered my regular - a bacon cheeseburger with mashed potatoes on the side to put  _ on  _ the cheeseburger and a peanut butter milkshake with two straws. She watched in horror as I spread the mashed potatoes on top of the melted slice of cheese, and then proceeded to dip the burger in steak sauce before taking a bite. 

“Come on, try it.” I said with a smile and a mouthful, holding out the dripping burger.

She laughed and took a sip from the milkshake we shared. “You’re disgusting.”

I zoned out as she started talking about whatever and remembered the last time I was here and it was with all of my friends. We all cheered Beverly on as she broke Ben’s record for the amount of fries that can be shoved in the mouth at once. It’s 23, by the way. 

I was laughing at Ben’s joke about his dick size when I felt Eddie’s knee touch mine under the table. It felt like I got shocked. It sounds so stupid, I know. But in that moment, when we were all laughing, and I felt his knee against mine, and I watched him smile, everything felt right. 

“Are you listening to me?” Melanie asked me. 

I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. Sorry.” 

I paid the bill, and then we left. 

When we got back to her place, she turned to me before getting out of the car. “Hey, my parents and brother aren’t home. You should totally come inside for a bit.”

I didn’t necessarily want to, but I figured I should, since it was my fault her evening was so shitty. 

We get inside and she directs me to the couch. She disappears into the kitchen and holds up a bottle of Coke. “Want one?”

“Uh, no thanks. I’m good.” 

When she returned, she sat really close to me on the couch and turned on the TV. Before I could say anything, her lips were on mine. I pulled away quickly, out of surprise. “What the hell are you doing?” 

“Kissing you, silly.” She got on her knees on the couch, facing me, and started kissing me again. I closed my eyes and forced myself to enjoy it. I held her face and kissed her back while she ran a hand through my thick, black hair. I opened my mouth and her tongue found its way into it. My free hand moved down her back gently and rested on her thigh, under her skirt. Her hand was rested on my chest and I felt it drop down to the waist of my jeans as she climbed onto my lap. She moaned softly into my mouth as I gripped her thigh tighter. 

Suddenly, my vision flashed and I was at the Italian restaurant in town with Eddie. We order a plate of spaghetti and unknowingly put the same noodle in our mouths at the same time. We don’t realize until our lips are centimeters apart. My heart stops. I look at his lips, then go for it and slurp it all the way until my lips are on his. Just like that, we’re kissing. Eddie’s kisses get a little more desperate when I realize Melanie’s hands are trying to unbutton my jeans. 

And boom. Fantasy over. I had a girl on my lap, trying to get my pants off. I hadn’t even realized she lost her shirt. 

“I can’t do this.” I said breathlessly as she’s kissing my neck. 

“What?” She stopped and looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

I pushed her off to the side of me and got up. “I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”

She looked at me, confused. Before she could object, I was out in the station wagon and took off for home. 


	5. November 2, 1992 Cont. - Ch. 5 Interlude

I got home that night and collapsed on the couch. My mind was spinning. 

After laying there, staring into space for a bit, my mom peeked her head into the living room. “Hey, sweetie. How did your date go?” She came in and moved my legs so she could sit on the couch next to me. 

“Poorly.” I said flatly. 

“Tell me about it, hm?” She smoothed a black curl out of my eyes.

My mom has always been my number one fan. I’d do anything for her, and she’d do anything for me. Through thick and thin, she’d always say. It was time to tell her.

“She wanted to have sex aaaand I got up and walked out after she ditched her shirt,” I told her. “And not because I don’t wanna have sex or whatever. Believe me, I do. Just...not with her, you know?” I took a deep breath. “Mom, I’m in love with someone else.”

“Oh, well then tell me about her!” She said excitedly.

I cleared my throat. “It’s, uh. It’s not a her.” I flinched, waiting for her reaction.

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, well, um. Tell me about him?” 

I looked down with my eyebrows furrowed, trying to think of what to say. “Uh, well, we’ve been friends forever-”

“It’s Stanley, isn’t it?!” She guessed excitedly. “I knew it!”

“ _ What?  _ No! Definitely not Stanley!” I sighed in frustration and ran a hand through my hair. “We’ve been friends forever. He’s got perfect hair, a perfect smile, he’s incredibly sweet and caring and funny,” I said, watching her. 

She just stared at me, confused. “Bill?”

“It’s Eddie, mom.” I said flatly.

“What, really?” Mom said with a smile. “Eddie K.? He’s too cute!”

I laughed slightly. “I know. So what the hell am I supposed to do? I’d rather die than screw up our friendship.” I laid my head back and stared up at the ceiling.

She paused for a second. “Honey, I’m almost afraid to tell you this because I don’t want to be wrong. But my mother’s intuition has been telling me for  _ years _ that Eddie has had a crush on you, too. I mean, you should look at the way you two look at each other. You guys have always been like lovesick puppies.”

I sat up quickly. “ _ What?  _ Him too?” 

“Wasn’t it obvious? Look, sweetie, I can’t tell you what to do or how to feel. But I’d like to think that the outcome that things turn out exactly how you’d like for them to is worth the risk. Huh?” 

I pondered it for a second before grabbing a pillow and putting it over my face. “Whyyy does life have to be so hard?” I groaned into the pillow.

She smiled and pecked my forehead before getting up. “You’re a smart kid. You’ll figure it out. You know your dad and I will always support you, no matter what happens.”

“Even if I kill someone?”

“Through thick and thin,” She replied with a smile. “Love you, Rich.”

“You too, mom.” I gave her a half smile.

“Oh, and Richie? Since you brought up sex, you know this means The Talk is warranted, right? I’ll get your dad on it.”

I groaned again. “Mom, I’m literally begging you not to. Please. I’m 16, I’m practically an adult!”

She scoffed. “All I’m saying is that you have to practice safe sex!”

“Please leave.” I told her, pinching the bridge of my nose. God, she could be so embarrassing. I loved it. 

  
  



End file.
